Color for the Terrified Quilter - Book Review

Written By Ionne McCauley and Sharon Pederson
Published by Martingale and Company for That Patchwork Place

The cover of this publication says it all. “Takes the mystery out of color” and it sure does that and a whole lot more.

Quilters in general are really good at what they do. They can piece with the sewing machine, and they can needle turn appliqué with expertise, and of course some can hand quilt like an angel. But interestingly, most quilters lack confidence in choosing their color schemes.

The authors Ionne McCauley and Sharon Pederson bring to this publication their combined experience of teaching and have carefully presented all the facets of color combinations and relationships that help when choosing colors.

Firstly they deal with subjects such as Color Families, the importance of Value, and Intensity and have developed some extremely helpful exercises to put into practice the information delivered in the publication.

After the initial introduction to color, the focus is then turned on the relationships between colors that are found on the color wheel, and again accompanied with fabulous exercises to fully understand the techniques being taught. It is from this point also that quilt projects complete with graphic diagrams and instructions are introduced to further the understanding and knowledge of quilting with color. The projects offered in this book are doable, and certainly achievable, not least because of the time the authors have taken to simplify the instructions, making each step clear and concise.
Most quilting books that I have reviewed have a section, usually found at the back of the book that gives details of the basics of patchwork and quilting.

I must say that this section in this particular book is really very good and extremely thorough. Not only are the basics covered but there are a lot of very good hints and tips thrown in for good measure. In just twelve pages, McCauley and Pederson have created a very simple reference section for beginner quilters.

I received this complimentary publication to review from Martingale and Company, the people who publish That Patchwork Place. This is just another wonderful quilt book printed by Martingale and Company, that I can thoroughly recommend to quilters; whether beginners or further advanced, there’s lots to learn in this book.